Judge Rules 'No Case' In Sunyani SDA Theft Case

Saturday January 23, 2010
By Kingsley E. Hope, Sunyani

A Sunyani High Court, presided over by Justice
E. Ato Assan, has thrown out an application for a submission of “no case” in a case where some members and pastors of the Mid-West Ghana Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church in Sunyani, have been charged with stealing money and aluminum roofing sheets belonging to the church.

Counsel for the accused made a submission of “no case” but Justice J. K. Owusu-Gyamfi, then sitting as additional circuit court judge at Fiapre in Sunyani, over-ruled the submission on June 25, 2008.

It did not go down well with the accused and an appeal was made at a Sunayni High Court against the ruling.

Prior to the appeal, a motion of a stay of proceedings was filed on August 6, 2008 and that application was granted on the ground that the Attorney General’s Department was studying the docket and also Justice Owusu-Gyamfi was going on transfer.

At the sitting of the High Court on January 18, 2010, the appeal was “struck out for want of prosecution” and following a subpoena by the respondents or complainants, the case has been fixed for hearing on February 10, this year.

It is recalled that The Spectator in its November 2 – November 8, 2002 issue carried the story headlined “SDA Pastors clash over money”.

Pastors James Kwaku Badu, then
president of the conference, Frederick Agyei Baah, secretary, Appiah Kubi Kwarteng (at large) and Mr Alfred Owusu Ansah, treasurer, have been charged with stealing 19,131 dollars and GH¢16,000 (160 million cedis) as well as a quantity of aluminum roofing sheets, all belonging to the church.

The rest are a former treasurer of the conference, Pastor Richard Addai Munukum, charged with stealing 18 packets of the roofing sheets while Mr. Daniel Kwabena Donkor and Mr Boa-Amponsem Kwabena are facing charges of dishonestly receiving packets of the roofing sheets.

The case has lingered on for nearly eight years. The police began investigations in August 2002 following a letter of complaint written by Elders, T. K. Ntiamoah, Samuel Darkwa and D. A. Munufie.

It all started when Pastor Munukum was about to hand over the administration of the conference which had Pastor Appiah Kubi as the President.

When the new administration of Pastor Badu took over, they claimed that such money and roofing sheets never existed, and this prompted the elders to write a letter to the headquarters in Accra which set up a committee to investigate the matter.

The police were later informed and the accused were subsequently arrested and charged with the offences.

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